AHC: Prevent privatisation

[AgentRudda]

What's the most effective and efficient way of preventing, or at least minimising, the mass-privatisations of state-owned industries in the 80s and 90s, mostly in Britain? This includes mutualising the industries or turning them into co-operatives, instead of a complete sell-off and being floated on the stock markets.

Points for preventing this for the main public utilities. Bonus points for Rail. And super points for telecoms, postal and other 'commanding heights' under government control.

 

[Bernard Woolley]

Callaghan calls an election in 1978 and Labour wins. Alternatively the Conservatives elect someone else as leader, perhaps someone from the 'wet' wing of the party.
There is also the option of Labour winning in 1992 (perhaps if Thatcher is not deposed). That won't stop the sell off of the '80s, but it will stop those of the '90s - rail and BNFL spring immediately to mind.

On just rail itself how about two options?

1: Robert Adley, a Conservative MP and rail enthusiast, lives for an extra year to eighteen months. He labelled rail privatisation a 'Poll Tax on wheels'.
He galvanises Tory backbench opposition to the Railways Act (1993) at a time when their majority is wafer thin. When the bill reaches the Commons enough Tory MPs vote against it to cause it to fail.

2: Margaret Thatcher is not brought down in 1990 and wins in 1992. She once told Nicholas Ridley that 'Rail privatisation will be the Waterloo of this government. Please never mention the railways to me again'. She was apparently of the opinion that rail would be a privatisation too far.

 

[TNF]

A 1978 election win for Labour is probably a good start. From there, you fundamentally have to do something about the ongoing profitability crisis in industry that's simultaneously going on around the Western world at the same time. IMO the best way to do that would for Labour to move further left and implement indicative planning strategies, maybe cut working hours or something, but fundamentally, there has to be a shift in the economy that makes it more public if public ownership itself is going to survive.

Maybe a harder form of corporatism is adopted ala Sweden or Norway? The social democracies passed through that period without much trouble, largely because their economies were far more integrated with and reliant upon state support than were, say, the British or the American ones.